The treatment allows people to have their cavities fixed with resin, without the need for a drill

Clinical trials are underway at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to treat cavities with resin.

The process is called resin infiltration and it allows the dentist to slide a perforated plastic sheet between the teeth with the cavities and fill it with resin.

If successful, it could replace the old option of numbing a patient and drilling away part of the tooth to access the cavity.

Augusto Robles, assistant professor and director of operative dentistry curriculum at the university, said: “When we develop cavities between teeth, sometimes we have to go through the tooth, and we end up damaging healthy tooth structure.

“This new system allows us to skip the drilling and helps us preserve that structure.”

New treatment for painful tooth cavities could put an end to the terror of the drill